In this chapter, an overview of the various genres of hagiographic literature is given: The focus gradually shifts from the martyrs in the age of persecution to holy bishops, monks and monastery founders. Collections of edifying stories and miracles become popular, holy fools and fictional saints appear on the scene as the heroes of novel-like texts. Hagiographic literature reflects the ecclesiastical and social developments in the lives of real and imaginary martyrs of Iconoclasm, of saints who resisted the unpopular church union in the late 13th century or who supported the Hesychast movement in the 14th century. Hagiographic literature was written at both a simple and a sophisticated stylistic and linguistic level, and many lives of saints were rewritten in later times in a more refined language. For liturgical purposes, lives of saints were also brought together in collections, reduced to short entries and used as the base of hymns.

As we said in Chapter 1, relevant logics are logics with demanding implication connectives. The sense of demandingness will be elaborated later, but a good way to get a feel for it is to work with some relevant logics to see what is provable and how.

This chapter attempts to chart the radical transformation of the Orthodox world across history, namely from the universal religion of Christianity to the numerous ‘national’ Orthodox churches of today. Historically speaking, this universality became mostly evident in the ecumenical ideology of the multi-ethnic Byzantine empire. Yet, at the same time, there have been continuous strong entanglements of Orthodox Christianity with various ethnic peoples that led to the formation of specific ethno-religious identities, especially through their Christianisation in the wake of Byzantine missions. Not least, this had an impact on the articulation of the Orthodox church structures in the late Middle Ages. These were later profoundly shaped anew within the modern national framework following the encounter of Orthodox Christian cultures with Western nationalism. The sweeping national and even nationalistic transformation of the Orthodox world exhibits numerous features that seemingly contradict its long ecumenical past, yet they may be explained in the context of the specific Orthodox confessionalisation and concomitant mutations during the modern era.

This chapter takes Mahmoud Darwish’s 1992 poem “The Penultimate Speech of the ‘Red Indian’ to the White Man” as a starting point to reflect on three canonical texts in modern Arabic poetics: the Egyptian critic Louis ʿAwad’s introduction to his 1947 volume Blutuland (Plutoland); the Iraqi poet Nazik al-Malaika’s introduction to her 1949 volume Shazaya wa-Ramad (Shrapnel and Ashes); and the Syrian-Lebanese poet and critic Adonis’s 1971 volume Muqaddima li-l-Shiʿr al-ʿArabi (Introduction to Arabic Poetry). Reading these three texts alongside one another, this chapter argues that in them a privilege of a listening subject, defined by interiorizing self-reflection, historical self-understanding, and aesthetic subjectivity, is generalized in language. The global terms for linguistic life are transmuted through these critical writings, while in Darwish a wholly other sense of language is given, without a desire for the terms privileged in the three texts in Arabic poetics this chapter also outlines.

What is the evolving role of exile in modern Arabic literature? Drawing on Edward Said’s concept of contrapuntal reading and the shifting figure of the exilic intellectual, the chapter traces the transformation of exile from a symbol of intellectual estrangement and creative agency to a dynamic site of engagement with displacement, fragmentation, and identity, and points to the ways in which exile literature intersects with, yet remains distinct from, refugee and forced migration narratives. Focusing on Palestinian literature, particularly Rabai al-Madhoun’s Masaʾir, it analyzes how exile and return are reimagined in the post-Oslo era through fragmented narrative structures and intergenerational perspectives. The chapter argues that exile literature continues to offer critical insight into the lived experience of displacement, while also challenging rigid legal and national categories. Through its aesthetic innovations and political resonances, exile literature remains a vital mode of witnessing, resistance, and reimagining belonging in the contemporary Arab world.

This chapter examines the innovations of “Liberty Printer” John Holt as well as his heated rivalry with loyalist printer James Rivington. An organ of the Sons of Liberty, Holt’s New-York Journal orchestrated America’s first news distribution service, which publicized British abuses in Boston, helping unite the colonies against a new, common enemy. With the arrival of the British in 1776, Holt would print his newspaper, sporadically, on the run. These wartime issues reveal the chaos of war as well as Holt’s own dire straits as he continued to serve his constituents. In James Rivington, Holt found an equally talented rival. Rivington’s Gazetteer was a modern marvel, which served the Tory cause as fervently as the Journal served the Patriot cause. In examining the parallel lives and prints of Holt and Rivington, this chapter showcases their modern print innovations, elicits a sharper understanding of the role of wartime propaganda, and interrogates the complicated decision of allegiance for Loyalists, Patriots, and the many Americans who remained neutral throughout the duration of the war.

What did it mean to be human in the Byzantine church? How was humanity conceived theologically? What were the attributes that comprised the human person? This chapter offers an introduction to anthropological understandings of Byzantine theology. Drawing on major points of consensus across various theologians, genres and liturgical contexts, I show that humanity was understood primarily in light of its divinised potential. Although terminology and understandings of the human body and faculties might differ across various theologians, early and medieval Orthodox thinkers agreed upon the divine origin and end of humanity. From humanity’s creation in the divine image to its potential transcendence in divine communion, humanity in all its diverse expressions was understood as having its fullest expression in God.

Relevant logics, much like TV-based modal logics, were initially investigated primarily via proof theory, rather than via frames or models. Sylvan and Meyer developed a flexible frame theory for relevant logics, one which equally accommodated a range of logics outside the family of relevant logics.

Chapter 9 is dedicated exclusively to an analysis of Romance de 1930. It interrogates the prevailing assumption that environmental determinants unilaterally shape character development, thereby limiting the potential for self-awareness to emerge. By closely examining seminal literary texts of the period, the chapter argues that the interaction between social and psychological factors creates a complex dynamic in which both domains exert reciprocal influence. As a result, the traditionally perceived gulf between the regionalist and intimist novel – often considered substantial – appears significantly less pronounced upon closer scrutiny. Within this conceptual framework, rigid categorical distinctions may obscure essential insights rather than clarify them. Jorge Amado’s designated “proletarian novel,” Jubiabá, serves as a salient example, illustrating how the external milieu and Balduíno’s internal subjectivity jointly determine the arc of this iconic popular protagonist. This case forms part of a broader set of analyses presented throughout the chapter.

Asylums’ adoption of printing and periodical publishing from the late 1830s was related to two major developments on both sides of the Atlantic: the growing accessibility of print and printing presses and the spread of the moral treatment of insanity. As the periodical press permeated daily life, and printing equipment became cheaper and easier to use, the introduction of presses into asylums was a practical move. The presses served multiple purposes: recreational, therapeutic, as well as administrative. This chapter identifies various factors that contributed to the introduction of printing in asylums and addresses concerns about the exploitation of patients’ labour hidden behind the theory of moral therapeutics. It also reflects on the symbolic meaning of the press, its association with civilizational progress, and the influence of such ideas on the early adoption of periodical publishing in America and Scotland. While presses were almost never bought solely for patients’ benefits, they offered novel opportunities for inmates to exercise initiative and agency as partners in the development of early psychiatry, as well as civilization.

How has modern Arabic literature imagined the future? Focusing on dystopian narratives as cultural responses to political, environmental, and social crises, this chapter examines the shifting concept of “the future” from a modernist ideal of progress to a site of uncertainty and threat, shaped by posthumanist and ecological thought. The analysis centers on Ahmad Khalid Tawfiq’s novel Utopia (2008), which portrays a near-future Egypt marked by extreme inequality, environmental degradation, and social collapse. The novel exemplifies “critical dystopia,” blending pessimistic visions with moments of resistance and open-endedness. The analysis situates Utopia within a broader tradition of Arabic speculative fiction, tracing its roots to the Nahda and its evolution through contemporary climate fiction. It argues that Arabic literature offers a vital space for reimagining temporality, critiquing slow violence, and envisioning alternative futures amid ongoing regional and global upheavals.

Chapter 6 analyzes racial inequity in health care assessments and treatment leading to further inequity in Social Security Act disability decision-making, by examining the practice by medical and health care professionals, including the Social Security Act’s internal and retained physicians, of “race-norming” or “race correction.” This involves the insertion of race into medical clinical-decision support tools and diagnostic algorithms that adjust or correct their outputs on the basis of a patient’s race or ethnicity predicated on fallacious principles of biological race. Race-normed or corrected outputs often understate the severity of Black and other minority patients’ conditions or require greater demonstration of illness to receive treatment for a range of severe and sometimes life-threatening conditions. As a result, they also inequitably, illegally, and unconstitutionally raise the bar on the demonstration of disabling impairment severity for Black claimants and other claimants of color subject to race-norming. This chapter ends with recommendations for eradicating race-norming in Social Security Act adjudication including strengthening a recent, albeit insufficient, 2022 internal Social Security Act guideline precluding use of a race-normed kidney function (eGFR) clinical-decision support-tool in disability adjudications and expanding that guideline to commonly race-normed tools in other areas, such as pulmonary function tests, and all other race-normed tools and algorithms.

Chapter 2 maps the complex EdTech ecosystem and identifies the conditions required for technology to genuinely improve children’s learning. It outlines three essential enablers - robust school infrastructure, teacher readiness, and strong community buy-in -showing how weaknesses in any of these areas undermine even the most promising tools. The chapter examines how misaligned incentives, particularly the long-standing prioritization of scale over educational impact, distort product design and procurement decisions. It highlights why meaningful partnerships between researchers and industry are crucial for redirecting innovation toward evidence-based outcomes, illustrating this through the developmental story of the Our Story app. Building on these insights, the chapter offers a pathway for cultivating effective and sustainable academia–industry collaborations, emphasizing precise matchmaking, shared goals, and long-term commitment. Ultimately, it argues that a healthy EdTech ecosystem depends on aligning all stakeholders around a collective mandate to improve learning.

This chapter retraces the evolution of Arabic print culture from the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries, challenging Eurocentric narratives that prioritize Western technologies and ideologies. It demonstrates how local actors in the Arab world adapted and integrated printing practices with traditional scribal methods. Through a close reading of early sources, particularly the encyclopedia entry on printing in Kitab Daʼirat al-Maʻarif, the chapter emphasizes the material, visual, and technological dimensions of Arabic print culture, arguing that printing was not merely a tool for modernization or nationalism, but a complex cultural practice shaped by aesthetics, labor, and local knowledge systems. It ultimately considers the implications of new media for the preservation and interpretation of Arabic print traditions, urging a re-evaluation of how digital technologies reshape scholarly engagement with historical texts.

Chapter 7 examines the growing movement toward national bans and restrictions on children’s digital technology, situating these policies within broader societal anxieties about screen time, social media, and adolescent well-being. It begins by reviewing the rapid rise of school phone restrictions worldwide and the parallel push for “de-digitisation,” including calls for technology-free childhoods. The chapter interrogates the scientific evidence on social media’s impact on adolescents, clarifying what is known about screen time. Moving beyond fear-driven narratives, it highlights the importance of participatory research and the co-design of EdTech with children to ensure tools support wellbeing rather than undermine it. The chapter also explores the accelerating AI revolution, including the use of generative AI to strengthen foundational learning and its expanding role within higher education. It concludes with a discussion of children’s public media as a counterbalance to commercial platforms, illustrating how high-quality digital content can enrich learning and civic engagement.

Focusing on Jurji Zaydan’s 1892 article “The Recent Egyptian Nahda,” this chapter traces the emergence of “nahḍa” as a cultural and political concept in the late nineteenth century. The word, which had long signified a physical act of rising, was expanded in this period to express a set of metaphorical “risings”: collective political awakening, cultural revival, the nineteenth century itself. Eurocentric translations of nahḍa as “renaissance” or “enlightenment” obscure the term’s semantic complexity, making Arabic cultural moments into belated European ones. The term once expressed diverse political imaginaries, from anticolonial solidarity to Islamic modernism, but later narrowed to the parameters of its European glosses. Exploring both the early instability of “nahḍa” and its later canonization, the chapter advocates for an approach to Nahda studies that is historically grounded but also speculative, embracing the many futures once possible within the term, and asking what we might yet learn from them.